I’ve never needed as much restraint in my life as I do with her. Never. I want to touch every bit of her body until I’ve had my fill, and even then, I don’t think it would be enough. Trying not to kiss her was harder than I thought, way fucking harder. But I wasn’t lying, she does need to work tonight as there’s a late clientele party happening. Regulars spoil the girls, and the girls, well, the girls spoil them back for a good hour.

I offered to pick her up because I know what she’s been through recently, and to be honest, I don’t like the idea of her walking the streets alone. And if she happened to walk across what she witnessed that other night, I wouldn’t be able to help her.

She walks out as I stand next to my car waiting for her. I couldn’t stay in that tiny space a second longer. Every inch of it smells of her, possibly because it’s so fucking small, or just because I had her body on mine and it sent me into fucking overdrive to want to bend her over and smack her fucking ass to show her who’s boss. Her bag is in her hand, and seeing her out of that white dress, which clung to her so fucking perfectly, had me going insane.

Now? Now I’m just fucked as I see her exposed stomach and her legs that go on for days as she stands there looking at me. She holds my stare, she isn’t one to look away. I like that about her.

“I can walk.” She looks toward the club as I push off the car. I hold open her door and she looks to it, then back to me. “Tell me something?” She steps forward and I wait for her to ask. “Do you offer lifts to all the girls?”

“You want me to tell you you’re special?” I ask her. Her lip twitches and she can’t help but smile as she nods her head. “You’re special. Now get in the car—” I pause as she watches me. “Please,” I finish.

She does as I say, careful not to open her legs to me, then looks at me from her seat. “Your momma would be proud.” She reaches for the door, shutting it. Her comment knocks me back. It was obviously a joke, but she’s also right. My mother taught me to open doors for women, to respect them. Even in my line of work the women have to be respected, because if they aren’t, they walk. Just because most think I’m an unfeeling prick doesn’t mean they don’t trust me. They do.

Walking around the car, my cell starts buzzing again. Swearing, I look down to see it’s Echo, still pretending to be away and currently at my Ma’s house. Opening my car door and sliding in, I answer it. It goes through the car system so Elicea will hear everything he’s about to say.

“Company,” I state before he says one word.

“Where?” he asks, knowing better.

“In my car.”

He coughs, then fixes himself. “A girl?” he asks, confused.

He knows I don’t let anyone in my car, I don’t let anyone drive it either. It’s mine.

“Yes,” I answer then start driving the short distance to the club.

“Well, fuck! Never thought I’d see the day. Asshole meet lady. Tell me, lady, how is my asshole treating you? Well, I hope?”

I breathe out a heavy breath knowing exactly how Echo is. He may be more serious than Falcon, but he can also be fucking annoying as well.

“Good, thank you,” she replies as the car slows down when the club comes in sight. Well, a massive warehouse which is technically the club. Mine.

“I can’t believe you let her in your car. Sorry, lady, but my feelings are seriously hurt right now. Does she smell better than me?” he asks.

Elicea giggles next to me and I stop the car to turn to look at her.

“She does.”

Her giggle stops and she looks up. Beautiful eyes stare back at me. What’s behind them? I want to know.

“You sound sick, Creed. You sure you’re okay?”

“Goodbye, Echo,” I reply, but before I can hang up he screams through the car, “I bet her pussy tastes better—” That’s all we hear before I press end, knowing exactly what he’s doing—he’s being a dick.

“My pussy, huh?” she asks smiling at me.

My cock pushes hard against my trousers at her words, my eyes finding their way down to her short skirt. She closes her legs tighter, then I hear the click of my door followed by her perfectly tanned legs getting out of the car and walking away.

I bang my head against the car headrest and call Echo back.

He answers straight away. “Pussy, pussy, pussy.” He huffs then stops. “She still there?”

“No, dickhead.”

I hear him blow out a heavy breath, more than likely he’s smoking.

“D won’t stop calling, it’s getting worse.”

I shake my head. “Of course, it is, you idiot. You run a business, you’re needed.”

“I can’t handle being there right now, or anywhere,” he says with a heavy breath through the cell.

“Why?” I ask him. Yes, she fucked him over but he’s also not telling me something. And he tells me everything.

“Not now.” Then he hangs up on me.

Getting out and walking straight past where Elicea is at the bar, I don’t even glance her way as I make my way to Darby. He’s at his desk like always, he looks up at me then back to whatever he’s writing as I walk in.

“Echo’s back.”

His head shoots up and he sits back in his chair. “Of course, he came to you.” He shakes his head then stands, pushing the seat back. “Where the fuck is he?”

“He needs time.”

“Why?” is all he asks as he comes around the desk, standing in front of me, his hands crossing over his chest. He’s bigger than me, but not by much.

“Fucked if I know, it would have something to do with her.”

He sighs loudly. “This is why we don’t do relationships. It fucks with us. Fucks with our career,” he says dropping his hands from his chest. I don’t say anything back, because even if I did believe what he just said, right now my head’s down the stairs on a very sexy brunette, one I wouldn’t mind getting in trouble for.

“Tell him he has one day, one more fucking day, then I don’t care what his issues are. If he isn’t here, he can sign his part of the business over to me. I’m sick of him always fucking being gone.”

Darby has every right to be mad, I get it. He does more than us and takes on some of the heavier stuff. We all do our part lately, but the last few years, Echo’s been—well, he’s been distracted. Walking out, I text Echo, telling him what D just told me. His response is to send me a ‘fuck you’ emoji. Smart.

“Don’t sit at the bar all fucking night either, the girls are starting to notice.” It’s my turn to flip him off as I make my way down. When I do, I see Falcon already there leaning over the bar making Elicea laugh, and it makes me pause in my pursuit of her. Falcon though, he notices straight away, looks up to me, winks then turns back to her, which in turn makes her eyes come my way. I don’t stare for long. Instead, I walk over to Bethany. She’s watching me.

Maybe D was right? The girls are starting to watch.

Bethany’s first words to me are, “Sabrina’s not showing up.”

Sabrina’s someone I hired not even a year ago. She was my last recruit.

“How long for, Bethany?”

She looks down then back up to me. Bethany protects the girls. Apart from me she’s in charge of them. What they don’t come to me for, they go to her.

“This week.”

I groan loudly, she’s been covering for her all this week.

“Why didn’t you tell me after the second time?”

Bethany shrugs but I know she has a soft spot for her. I found Sabrina through one of the girls. She had just left her abusive boyfriend and needed work, she was the perfect fit for what I needed. She’s good, until recently. The contracts for the girls are different to the contracts the clients sign, we are more flexible with the girls.

“I was afraid for her.” Bethany says, and I shake my head. “I think she’s gone back to him.”

“Fuck.” She promised me when we hired her that she wouldn’t go back, it was part of the reason I hired her. Controlling men are what we don’t want, especially around our women.

“The minute she comes back in, you call me.”

Bethany nods then looks over my shoulder then back to me. “What’s with the bartender?”

I look to where she’s watching Elicea, still standing in the same spot speaking with Falcon.

Answering her, I don’t look back to Bethany. My eyes are solely trained on them both. “What about her?”

Her sharp words make me turn back to her. “Well, she needs to go.” Her eyes are hard, her hands crossed over her chest.

“You tell me why you think she needs to go, since you seem to believe you have the power over who I hire?”

Bethany’s hands drop from her chest at the tone of my voice. Her eyes snap to mine and she quickly averts her gaze downward. “She doesn’t fit.”

I laugh at her words and walk off.

Just before I pass them, Falcon’s voice stops me. “You don’t care, do you, Creed? If I take Elicea here out and show her a good time?”

Elicea’s eyes flick back to me then to Falcon like she doesn’t believe what he’s just said. You give a dog a bone, he’ll bite. That’s Falcon. Ignoring him, I walk straight past them, listening to Falcon laugh as I head back to my office.